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SV Carbon Tank project for Zoran

Well, the petcock mount didn't work out the way I'd hoped. The clamping pulled the lip of the top out of alignment with the bottom. So I had to remove the mount. That was fun...good thing I noticed it before the epoxy was fully cured. Anyway, I decided to mount the plate to the bottom piece and just clearance the top piece as needed. Should work out just fine so no big deal.
So it's on to the gas cap.
A little measuring, some 'dividing by 2', a little scratching with a set up pointy calipers and some time with the trusty air saw and Mr. Dremmel and we have a nice round place for the gas cap to mount.

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Turns out the lip on the bottom of the gas cap isn't wide enough to provide the purchase we want...hmmm.
A quick call to my buddy Kevin Ostrom (always a good idea to know someone with a lathe, mill and the know- how to use them...!) and in a few days he'll have it all machined up as needed. Couldn't do it without his help. Let's all give Kevin a round of applause and a double thumbs up! :thumbup :thumbup
So, while it's not really mounted, here's what it'll look like when it is.

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And here you can see how I clearanced the top so I could just mount the petcock plate in the bottom piece....
So, while I'm waiting for the gas cap to be machined, I decided to get to work on the venting system. Some of you may be thinking, "Wait a minute, isn't that an aftermarket gas cap and isn't it vented already?"
Here's the deal. It is vented but it's vented in such a way that I'd need to carve out the gas cap mounting area from the stock tank since the vent actually vents to an internal 'under the cap' vent that, on stock bikes, then runs to the infamous charcol filter. I didn't want the added weight from all that steel...So what I need to do here is go back to the stock tank, cut it open and pilfer the venting system. In our application, we'll just run the vent out the back of the tank. I could have stuck a dirt bike vent tube on the top of the tank but I'm not a fan of that look. This is stealthy and looks better, IMHO, even if it does weigh a few ozs more. Here, I'm trial fitting it, bending the tubing so I can bond part of it to the side of the tank and route it out the rear of the tank.
I have to make a small extender, but that's simple enough - I just sleeve it with a section of the gas cap overflow tube from the stock set up. We'll live without that overflow set up. Zoran will just have to be a little more careful when filling the tank...
I'll bond the vent 'cap' (that silver cylinder) to the tank just behind the gas cap, then bond the tube to the side of the tank. I'll bond around the tube where it exits the rear of the tank. Three attachement points will be plenty strong.
So, this is all we can do until I get the cap back. I want to mount it, then add the vent system. After that, all we have to do is bond the top and bottom to seal this bad boy up. Then it's on to the mounting sysyem.
Hope you're enjoying this final set of steps. We're about a week away from finishing this project!

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kurbycar32 said:
i would love to see the differences in weight between the carbon and the stock tank when its all assembled
Click to expand...

You're stealing my thunder. A weight comparison has been part of the plan all along. This tank isn't as light as it could be - I wanted to be sure it was tough, then light. But it'll be lots less than a stocker, for sure.
 
:drool

this has been the best thread learning how its done, and how long it takes is incredable.

Props for you mad skills.
 
tygaboy said:
You're stealing my thunder. A weight comparison has been part of the plan all along. This tank isn't as light as it could be - I wanted to be sure it was tough, then light. But it'll be lots less than a stocker, for sure.
Click to expand...

post deleted, thunder away:teeth
 
BaSSiUsMaXiMouS said:
are you going to coat the inside of the tank with something? seems like gas would do something to a beautiful work of art :teeth
Click to expand...
Actually, the epoxy stands up to gas just fine. I have examples where a tank has been in service for years with no problems.
That said, look back in this thread where I made the bottom piece. You'll see I use POR-15 tank sealer - just as an insurance policy. I'll be coating the inside of the top before bonding the top and bottom.
 
tygaboy said:
Actually, the epoxy stands up to gas just fine. I have examples where a tank has been in service for years with no problems.
That said, look back in this thread where I made the bottom piece. You'll see I use POR-15 tank sealer - just as an insurance policy. I'll be coating the inside of the top before bonding the top and bottom.
Click to expand...
And the bonding "glue" will also withstand gasoline?
 
Zierra said:
And the bonding "glue" will also withstand gasoline?
Click to expand...

The 'glue' is simply the same epoxy with the filler added so, yes, it also holds up to gas. But again, as insurance, I'll be coating the inside of the top, then bonding the top to the bottom and as a final setp, I'll pour a small amount of the tank sealer into the tank and roll it around to cover the 'top-to-bottom' joint.
 
Got to Sears (the race track, not the department store) this morning and met up with Zoran to determine the needed mounting brackets. He's running a race subframe so we needed to agree on how he wanted/needed the rear mount to work and I had to be sure I installed the vent outlet such that it didn't interfere with anything. So I dragged a few scraps of sheet aluminum with me and one of them was already bent at the perfect angle to serve as the mold for the rear mount... Karma smiles upon the project on a fine Saturday morning.
Even better is the fact the my SV/MV tank front mount mold is a perfect fit! How'd that happen? Simple - remember, the underside of my SV/MV tank is the same as a stock SV tank. Nothing like reusability. So what you see here is my existing front mount mold and the 'quick and dirty' reat mount mold. The strange look to the front mold is because, in an effort to make a sturdy mold, I used a layer of 'core mat'. It's essentially a thick, fairly porous material that soaks up a LOT of epoxy. Once it cures, this part ain't going anywhere. Very stiff.

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There is a bit of a step to the front mold so to combat the possibility of the carbon trying to 'bridge' and not laying down nicely into that step. I mixed a bit of the filler into the epoxy to create paste that I can use to fair in the step so that the carbon doesn't have to conform to as tight a corner. But heaven forbid we have a blob of cream colored goo messing up our nice finish!
No problem, I just add some black tint to the mixture! Then spread a bit into the corner and we're all set to lay up the part.
As an aside - this 'fill in the tricky bits with filler' is a fairly common technique. Look at some of the MotoGP parts and you'll see...

And remember, the part we pull from the front mold will need to be shaped to match the stock SV front tank mount. You'll see that as I finish up the part. So I could have spent more time making a 'closer to the finished product' mold but I'd still have to final shape the part...so why bother with a fancier mold? I opted to go this route.

Also, I've hot glued the molds to a wooden stand to make the layup and cure easier to handle.

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Now's a good time to sandwich in the petcock plate...a few layers of carbon and we're all set. I only did the one side since once I bond the top to the bottom, the overlap between the two parts will take care of sandwiching the other side. Simple, no?

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Here are the mounts, all layed up. Also pictured is the metal roller that I use to consolidate the layup. This helps to compact the layers so we use less epoxy - remember, parts are strongest/lightest when the ratio of epoxy to fabric is optimized. In a non-vacuum bagging situation, like this one, the roller technique helps us get as close as possible.

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While the mounts are curing, let's mount the gas cap. Here you can see the area I had machined around the outer perimiter. It was less than about 1/2 this width - well, it had a step in it that we needed to remove so the available bonding area would be sufficient to bond to the tank. Plus the step kept it from sitting nice and flush on the tank. Thanks again to Kevin Ostrom for the quick turn around!
(See that's a subtle joke...he had to mount this on a lathe...which spins...Quick 'turn around'? Get it...?)
OK, apparently epoxy fumes ARE bad for you...

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Mix up some epoxy, add filler until the consistency is where we want it, goo up the area around where the cap is going, set the cap in and push it home!
The epoxy/filler squishes out on top and bottom, ensuring we have a nice seal.

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Then, a bit of epoxy/filler on the mounting bolts - remember, these don't bolt to anything, in our application, they're just cosmetic. We'll, they do plug the holes that would otherwise be there...

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A bit of Acetone on a rag to wipe up the excess around the cap and any that oozed up around the bolts and we're home and dry!
To ensure we get a nice snug bond, Let's set a couple big-ass sockets on the cap to be sure it stays well pressed to the tank during the cure. ;)
Here you can see how the finished top of the tank will look. Pretty nice, wouldn't you say?

Tomorrow, I'll finish the vent system, coat the inside with tank sealer and with a bit of luck, bond the top and bottom together!! Major step as, for the first time since we began this project, we'll actually have something that will hold gas which means, after all this time and effort, we can well and truly call it a 'tank'.
Can I get a 'Oh YEAH!'?

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:cool
 
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tygaboy said:
Then, a bit of epoxy/filler on the mounting bolts - remember, these don't bolt to anything, in our application, they're just cosmetic. We'll, they do plug the holes that would otherwise be there...
Click to expand...

And someday, down the road... a future owner will try removing the bolts to take out the filler... Doh!:cry

Sweet work. Looking forward to seeing the final part.
 
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